Fate
by Sophia Hawkins
Summary: Fate knocks Munch for a loop when he's involved in a hit and run with a woman who was coming to see him.
1. Chapter 1

Fate

"Where the hell is Munch?" Cragen asked the only people who might immediately know.

It was 1 o' clock in the morning and he had called Munch in despite of it being his off hours, to come down and assist them as it seemed now, even more so than earlier in the day, the phones were ringing off the hook with complaints and reports and information and people were lining up in sets to speak with somebody to report something.

"He's not here yet?" Olivia asked.

Fin hung up the phone and said, "I thought you called him an hour ago to get his ass down here."

"I did and he hasn't shown up yet," Cragen answered, "Does anybody know anything?"

The phone started ringing again and Fin answered, "SVU."

Olivia took her cell phone out of her pocket and said, "I'll see if I can get him."

It started ringing and she walked off to a corner in the room that wasn't quite as noisy.

"If he's not here, Captain," Elliot said, "There's got to be a good reason, doesn't there?"

"With Munch?" Cragen asked, "I don't know."

Fin hung up the phone again, "This is getting ridiculous, we've must've gotten a hundred calls in the last half hour and it doesn't look like they're connected in _any_ way, different parts of town, different kinds of people, different kinds of complaints."

"Nothing like Manhattan on a Saturday night," Elliot commented.

Olivia put her phone back in her pocket and came back to the others. "This is strange, I just tried calling Munch but all I got was a recording saying he's either out of the area or his phone's been turned off."

Cragen's hands started clenching and unclenching themselves momentarily as he told Elliot, "When he finally gets in, I don't _want_ to break his neck."

"You want me to do it?" Elliot asked.

Fin held his hand right above the receiver because he knew in about ten seconds, somebody else would be calling in with a complaint. As of on cue, the phone rang again and for the 10th time, Fin answered, "SVU."

"Well this isn't like Munch," Olivia commented, "If he's not here and he's not answering his phone, I'm sure there's a very good reason for it."

"Okay, we'll be right there," Fin hung up, "There is, Munch just called from the hospital."

"What happened?" Cragen asked.

"He had a problem on the way here," Fin explained as he got up and grabbed his jacket, "Hit and run."

"Anybody he knows?" Olivia asked.

"He was the driver," Fin answered.

* * *

Olivia, Fin and Elliot had raced to the hospital and it was only when they mentioned their reason for being there was part of an investigation in a crime that they got the room number of the most recent hit and run victim.

"I just don't get it," Olivia said as they headed to the elevators, "How could this happen with Munch?"

"I'm sure he's thinking the same thing right now," Fin said as he punched for the second floor.

They found Munch in a private room, just he and the victim. The victim, underneath a patch of bruises and bandages, looked to be about 14 or 15, she was hooked up to an IV and a heart monitor but overall she didn't look to be in that critical of condition. The nurse hadn't told them how she was doing, and they had gathered from that that the patient wasn't on death's door. Munch sat in a chair next to the bed, never looking at anything except her.

"Munch," Olivia said as they entered the room, "Are you okay?"

That was when he first acknowledged somebody else in the room, his only response was, "Should be asking that about her."

"What happened?" Fin asked.

Munch shook his head, "I don't know…I was on my way to the station and she just came out of nowhere."

"What, jaywalking?" Elliot asked.

"No," Munch answered, "No, it's not as simple as that, she ran out into the street right next to the grill of my car and then she jumped, landed on the hood and hit the windshield. The whole thing happened too fast for me to realize what had happened until I had a thousand pieces of glass in my lap and her blood pouring down the dashboard."

"So why didn't we hear about it?" Fin asked.

"I didn't send for a bus, I put her in the back of the car and drove straight here, I figured she could die before the paramedics could find us," Munch explained.

"What did the doctors say?" Olivia wanted to know.

"They're not finished yet," he said, "I'm waiting for them to come back with the results from tests they took."

"Do you know who she is?" Elliot asked.

"Yeah, she had her ID in her wallet, she's Marie Baron, just turned 18, she lives up on 9th street and she lives alone and has no immediate family, I've already checked."

A doctor came into the room and looked at the forms Munch had filled out. "Okay, Mr. ….Munk?"

"Munch," he said, "Detective John Munch. Is she going to be alright or not?"

"Well I'd say she had a lucky break," the doctor answered, "Most of her wounds appear to be superficial, she hasn't sustained any serious head wounds, just a few bruises and cuts, there's no signs of concussion or any organ damage. Her breathing is normal and in general I'd call her condition nothing short of a miracle considering what could have happened tonight. We'll have to keep her for a few days for observation but I'd say they're going to be alright."

"Well that's good to," Munch stood up when it hit them, "They?"

"Miss Baron's pregnant, I'd estimate about eight or nine weeks."

Munch's eyes spun back into his head and he said, "I need to sit down again."

* * *

"Pregnant, I hit a pregnant teenager, oh this just gets better by the minute," Munch said later when he'd recovered from the shock.

"Well if she was jaywalking then you're not liable," Elliot said.

"Think I care about that?" Munch asked, "I've worked in law enforcement for longer than this kid's been alive, I've been trained in making split decisions when a life's on the line in order to save it…and I can't even step on the damn brakes when somebody runs in front of my car."

"Munch," Olivia was trying to think of something that would put some reasoning in with what happened, "Did you see anything that might explain why she ran right in front of you?"

He shook his head somberly, "If there had been anybody else around I would've seen them."

"Well there's got to be a reason," Elliot said, "A pregnant girl doesn't just run in front of an oncoming car in the middle of the night for no reason. Did _anybody_ see the accident?"

Munch shook his head, "I didn't see anybody, has to be the first time since traffic went through New York that a Manhattan street was either empty or all the cars were parked. Felt like I was in a David Fincher movie, all that was missing was a TV set that talked back to me and a large clown doll."

"There's got to be _somebody_ who saw what happened, somebody who knows something," Olivia said, "Where were you when she hit your car?"

Munch had no sooner opened his mouth when they heard the woman start gasping. She opened her eyes and sat up in bed and looked around. All eyes were on her, she didn't appear too disoriented and in fact she seemed to be in rather fair condition.

"What's going on?" she asked in a low and tired voice, "Where am I?"

"Marie Baron," Olivia said, trying as she did on a daily basis to stay calm, "You're in the hospital, you're going to be alright."

"Hospital?" the girl's eyes widened slightly, "Who are you?"

"I'm Olivia Benson, I'm a detective."

"Detective?" Marie repeated, "Are you alone?"

The others started looking amongst themselves, what did she mean alone?

"No," Olivia answered, "I'm here with other members of the Special Victims Unit. You, you can't see us?"

"No," she shook her head, "It's all a blur."

Elliot's eyes widened slightly as he recalled not too long ago being in a very similar predicament after having the back of his skull head butted against a car window.

"I'll go get the doctor," Olivia moved toward the door.

"No," Marie said, "I don't want a doctor…you…you're police?"

"That's right," Olivia replied.

"I…" Marie let go of whatever she was about to say, she sat herself up even taller against the pillows and looked around the room and she asked in a gruff tone, "Which one of you is Munch? Detective John Munch, where is he?"


	2. Chapter 2

"I'm Munch," he answered as he stood up, "Miss Baron I…"

The girl squinted until her eyes were nearly closed, "You're Detective Munch?"

"That's right," he said as he got closer to the bed, "I'm…"

"Oh that's a good thing to know," she said, "It's important that I found you…Lisa said that you could help me, I…"

The girl's eyes rolled back in her head and she lay back against the pillow and closed her eyes.

Olivia went to the door to call in a doctor.

"What was that about?" Elliot asked.

"I don't know, I've never seen her before," Munch said.

"You sure?" Fin asked.

"I see a lot of women come into the SVU everyday, I'd remember one who looked like this," Munch said.

"What did she mean by Lisa told her?" Fin asked, "Who's Lisa?"

"I don't know, but I have a guess," he said, "Lisa Deering."

"Who's that?"

"An expert in domestic abuse," Munch said, "Her number's on my desk at the station, will you stay here until she wakes up? I want to find out what's going on."

"Sure thing, man," Fin replied as he sat down.

Munch got to the doorway before turning back and adding, "And don't let anybody give her anything that'll whack her out, when she comes to again we need her to be coherent and as competent as is possible."

At that moment, Olivia came back into the room with a doctor.

"What is it you wanted?" the doctor asked.

"Find out what's wrong with her," Munch said, "I'll be back in an hour or so."

* * *

Half an hour later Munch stood on the porch to Lisa Deering's home, he knocked on the door and waited. A bright light came on overhead and the door opened. The woman was surprised to see him.

"John, what're you doing here?" she asked.

"I need to ask you a question," he said, "Can I come in?"

"My kids are asleep."

"That's okay, we'll be quiet."

Lisa a bit reluctantly held the door open and he walked in.

"Nice place you have here," Munch said as they sat at the dining room table, "Must be pretty quiet now."

"It is."

"How are you doing?" he asked.

"I'm doing alright."

"And your kids?"

"They're fine…is this why you came down here in the middle of the night, for a visit?"

"No, I need to know if you recommended me to somebody," he told her.

"What?"

"There is an 18 year old pregnant girl in the hospital tonight, she told me that Lisa said I could help her…her name is Marie Baron, does any of this ring a bell with you?"

A moment passed before Lisa answered, "Yeah…I think so. Is she going to be alright?"

"Miraculously yes," Munch said, "Now why don't you tell me what you two talked about? What did she need to see me for?"

"She said she needed help, you were the only one I knew who might listen to her," Lisa explained.

"About what?"

"She wouldn't tell me, she said she didn't want anymore people finding out than was necessary…but she said that she needed help and the police weren't going to do it…I told her she should go to you because you actually try and help people. She didn't tell me that she was going to see you, she just said she'd think about it."

"How well do you know her?"

"Not very well, I've seen her around here and there, we talk a couple of times, that's about all. I'm sorry I can't be more help."

Munch nodded, "It's okay, look," he said as he got up, "I've got to get back to the hospital and see if she's conscious yet, I'll see you around."

* * *

"Well," Olivia said as she put her cell phone away, "The captain is less than pleased by what's gone on tonight."

"But?" Elliot asked.

"He also wants to know what's going on but he's not sure we can spare the manpower tonight. SVU seems to be on some kind of an overload, more people filing complaints and reports now than ever."

"I'll go back to the station," Elliot said, "Let me know if Munch finds anything."

Just as Elliot was walking out the door, he bumped into Munch who was trying to get back into the room.

"Just in time," he commented, "Did you find out anything?"

"Yes."

"Tell me about it later," Elliot said, "I've got to go."

Munch turned back to Olivia and Fin who both looked like they'd been sitting on their hands the entire time he was gone.

"What did the doctor say?" Munch asked.

"No brain damage but not to be surprised if she keeps blacking out in the next couple of days," Olivia said, "What did you find out?"

"Lisa did recommend me to her. She said that Marie told her she needed help and nobody, the police included, could help her."

"What do you think it is?" Fin asked.

"Well, we can probably guess," Olivia said, "She's been pregnant since she was 17, she has no family, and she figured the police wouldn't help her…my guess is she was raped and not having anybody to confide in, wanted to report it before the statute of limitations ran out."

"And if that's the case, and her attacker was chasing her," Munch said, "That still doesn't make any sense as to why I didn't see him, or anybody else except her running through the streets."

"Well when she wakes up again," Olivia commented, "We'll see what she says, maybe then we can get some answers."

"Well there's no sense in all of us waiting for her to come around," Munch told them, "You two go back to the station, I'll stay here."

"Are you sure?" Olivia asked.

"Yes, I'll call you if I find out anything else."

* * *

Through the remainder of the night, Munch stayed in the hospital room by the girl's bedside; for the longest time she didn't wake up, and nobody came in to check on her. Munch had been shocked into full alertness for most of the night and now that he was coming down off of it, he was about ready to crash. He felt his eyelids grow heavy, and he closed them for a minute to rest. He heard a slight movement come from the bed and then he heard the girl talking in a low voice.

"Detective Munch, are you still here?"

Opening his eyes and picking his head back up, he looked and saw she had pushed back the covers and was sitting up in the bed; she herself looking about as tired as he felt currently.

"I'm right here," he answered, "Miss Baron, are you alright?"

Her eyes shifted from one corner to the other, as if looking for a sign indicating how she should answer. Saying nothing and only nodding her head, Munch had an idea this was going to be a long rest of the night.

"That's good," he said.

"I suppose I must've caused you a lot of trouble," she said, "Hitting your car like that." She smiled weakly as she lay back against the propped up pillows, "I'm so sorry about that, believe me it wasn't what I had in mind."

"I wouldn't imagine it was," Munch replied, "But what exactly _were_ you doing out there tonight?"

"I was on my way to the police station, to ask to speak to you. Lisa told me that you might be able to help me."

"What was it you wanted to see me about?" he asked.

"I…" she sat up again and looked from one side of the room to another, "Is there anybody else in here?"

"No, why?"

"I just wanted to make sure," she said.

"Did the doctor say when you would be able to see again?" he asked.

"I'm not blind, Detective Munch," she said, "I just have poor eyesight and I seem to have lost my glasses…I think…I think I lost them when I ran into your car."

Munch opened his mouth to say something, but he closed it and looked at her I.D. on the nightstand by the bed. Yes, it did say that she wore corrective lenses, but when he first saw it he hadn't paid any attention to that. An idea came to him, and he didn't know where it had come from, or why, but he took his glasses off and handed them to her.

"Put these on and see if it helps any," he told her.

Marie put the glasses on and looked around the room.

"Almost perfect," she said as she took them off and handed them back to Munch, "Funny, I always thought people's prescriptions were like fingerprints, no two alike."

"Miss Baron," Munch said again, "About what happened tonight."

"Oh Detective Munch, I'm so sorry about that," she sounded like an old toy winding down, hardly any strength left in her voice at all, her eyes not even open anymore, "I didn't mean to cause so much trouble. I really appreciate what you've done, bringing me to the hospital and all, you don't know how much it means to me, really I…"

Just like that, she fell back against the pillows and was dead to the world again.

"I love my job," Munch dryly said to himself as he looked to the clock to determine how much longer it would be until the sun came up to start a new day.


	3. Chapter 3

"I just want to get out of here and go home," Marie said the next morning when Olivia, Elliot and Fin returned to see if there was anything new, "Can't I go home?"

"The doctors say they want to keep you for a few days for observation," Olivia told her.

"The nurse says you gave her some trouble this morning," Elliot commented, "Wouldn't eat any of the food she brought you."

"Have _you_ ever eaten hospital food, Detective Stabler?" she asked, "I'm pregnant, I can't afford to come down with food poisoning."

"We also heard you gave the doctor trouble when he paid you a visit," Fin added.

"Doctors, they go to medical school for seven years, and they still can't warm up the damn stethoscope. He had me hooked up to a whole bunch of things too I didn't need to be…" she looked around the room and counted only three blurs, "Where's Munch?"

"He said he had to go pick up a few things and he'd be back soon," Elliot said, "He figured you'd rest easier if we were here until he returned."

"Well, I sure appreciate it," she said, "You don't know how much it all means to me that you'd all go through so much trouble on account of me."

"Marie, do you remember much about last night once you were brought here?" Olivia asked.

"Mmmm…I remember meeting all of you, and Munch, and I remember I woke up again and he was here, he wanted to know why I hit his car…and then it was this morning…did I miss anything?" she asked.

"I don't think so," Elliot answered, "But we still need to know why you out running through the streets in the middle of the night when he was driving through."

"Oh yes, that," Marie said as she sat up in bed, "Well it seems every time I try and explain what happened, something always comes up that interrupts it."

"So why don't you tell us now?" Fin asked.

"I'd rather wait for Munch to get back," she answered, "I owe it to him so he can know once and for all, after all it was his windshield I went through, and he was the one who had to bring me here…Detective Benson, I'm going to the bathroom, if anybody comes in will you make sure they don't come in there?"

"Sure."

Marie pushed back the covers, got out of bed, walked over to the bathroom and closed the door behind her.

"This kid's about as paranoid as Munch," Elliot commented.

"Speaking of which, I wonder where he is," Fin said, "He left over an hour ago."

There were two knocks on the door, it opened and Munch came in carrying a police duffle bag.

"Hello, hello," he said as he stepped into the room and closed the door behind him, "How's the patient doing?"

"I think we've met the only person who could give you challenge as the biggest conspiracy nut in town," Elliot said, "She refuses to eat anything the hospital serves, she doesn't want anybody examining her, she won't sleep unless one of us is here, she won't even go to the bathroom unless there's somebody on guard."

"Meanwhile where have you been?" Fin asked Munch.

"I went to Marie's house, apparently she only had the one set of glasses that she lost last night, so I had to go home and get an extra pair of mine," he answered as he went over to the bathroom door and called in, "Miss Baron?"

"Munch, is that you?"

"Marie, I went to your house and got a change of clothes and another set of glasses for you. Will you open the door?"

The doorknob turned and the door opened a couple inches. He took out of the bag a pair of her jeans and one of her shirts and a case with his glasses in it and handed them to her.

"Thanks," she said as she closed the door.

"It took you an hour to get that?" Elliot asked.

"No, I figured she wouldn't be eating anything they tried giving her, so," he reached into the bag again and pulled out a small sub sandwich, "I stopped by the deli. She's eating for two now, she can't afford to miss any meals."

"What are you, Mary Poppins?" Fin asked as he grabbed the bag and held it open, "What else do you have in there?"

"I'd say you got back just in time," Olivia told Munch, "Marie says that she wants to explain what happened last night. She was waiting for you to get back so you could hear it first."

The bathroom door opened and Marie stepped out, dressed and wearing the tinted glasses.

"Oh this is much better," she said as she came out, "Now I can see, I see, I see…" she stopped when she saw the four of them and mumbled, "Apparently some things are better blurry." She walked over to Munch and said to him, "Detective Munch, I want you to know I appreciate this, you don't know how much it means to me…"

"Well now that we're all here," he said, "Why don't you tell us what happened last night?"

"Oh yes, yes, of course," she said, "Well…I really don't know how to begin that because it's a long story. Uh…you see, this whole thing started back home."

"You're not from here?" Olivia asked.

"Oh no," she shook her head, "I grew up in a small town in Kansas."

"You've come a long way," Elliot noted.

"That was part of the plan, you see…I came from a normal family, I was an only child, I grew up in a small town, I always wanted to be something big but nothing ever came of it. All the same I had pretty much an ideal life, I was a good student, everybody knew me and liked me, and I thought I'd stay there until they buried me. But, there was this guy back there, and he said he was interested in me…but the feeling wasn't mutual…I tried to let him down gently but as I found out, he's the sort of guy who needs a hint about he size of a doghouse to fall on him. He…he started following me, showing up everywhere I went, called my house, sent me emails…and I told him again that I wasn't interested, and he should find somebody else…he didn't listen. One night, when I was coming home, he followed me in his car, he about ran me down…but instead…he pulled me into a back alley. I kicked, I screamed, I swore I was going to kill him but it didn't make any difference to him. And…after he had disappeared, I went to the police and told them what happened but it clearly wasn't a priority of theirs and they never looked into it.

"Well…I knew that as long as he was around, I'd never be safe there, so I left, I packed a bag, took all my money, disappeared in the night, hitched a few rides then took a bus, and a couple of trains, and I wound up here. And at first, everything was fine, nobody knew me, I met a lot of people I could get along with, I had a good job. Then, _he_ came around again. And this time he wasn't beating around the bush, this time he came at me with this glare in his eyes, I could just tell he wanted to see me dead. I told him that I was going to go to the police station and tell them what happened and I was going to make sure this time that a criminal investigation was carried out, and that he would go to jail and lose everything he ever worked for."

"He followed you," Elliot said.

"Chased is more like it," she replied, "He told me that he was going to kill me long before I ever got to the station…and I ran for the longest time with him right behind me…and no matter where I went, he was right behind me, so I jumped a fence and was met with a choice. I could either stay there and let him kill me, or run out into the middle of the road and take my chances with the late night traffic. I was hoping maybe he'd run in front of something and get hit, but I knew I couldn't get that lucky. And that's when I went through Detective Munch's windshield; you all know the story from there."

For a minute, nobody knew what to say. It never seemed to matter how many times they went through this, nothing could prepare them for what came out of the victim's mouth because no matter how horrible and terrifying one case was, there was always another that could top it.

"Who is it?" Olivia asked, "If you know who he is, we can arrest him and make sure he never comes near you again."

"Well you see, that's just it," she told them, "That's why I held off on telling you before now. I had to make sure that you would take me seriously and look into it, and not brush me off like the cops back home did. If that's how it was going to be there wouldn't be any point in my saying. I'm sorry that I've had to put you all through waiting for so long, but I just couldn't take a chance on nobody looking into it again."

"Miss Baron," Munch said, "You tell us who it is, we'll find the bastard and put him away, you have my word."

"Good," she nodded her head in understanding, "Then go get him, he's making his rounds now."

"What do you mean?" Fin asked.

Marie adjusted the glasses and looked at him as she answered, "He's an orderly in this hospital."

* * *

Munch's eyes grew wide when he heard that. "He's working _here?_ Right now?"

"He'll be down this way soon enough," she said, "You see, Detective, I'm sorry for fooling you, but I was not unconscious for as long as the doctors thought. I was going to tell you that I was alright, but then I heard _his_ voice as he passed by in the hallway, saying to somebody that he'd be having to come in at this time today again. I just froze because I didn't know if anybody would believe me if I told them. His name is Ryan Cobb."

He looked to the door, "Coming down this way you said?"

"Any minute now, I'm sure," she said.

"I'll go with you," Elliot told Munch, "Fin, you and Liv stay here incase we miss him."

They headed out the door and closed it behind them and started down the hospital corridor.

"Now it all makes sense," Elliot said, "Her attacker works here, he'd be able to come in when she was asleep, he'd have access to meds he could've put in her food, no wonder she was acting so paranoid, she wanted to make sure he didn't finish his job."

"And now that we're here, that's going to be pretty definite," Munch replied.

They turned the corner and met with an orderly who looked to be in his 20s. He was tall, well built and they noted on his blue scrub was a nametag that read 'Ryan'.

"You Ryan Cobb?" Elliot asked.

"That be me," he answered, "Do I know you?"

"No," Munch replied, "But we've heard about you though."

"You were working here last night, weren't you?" Elliot asked.

"Yes," he nodded.

"Were you here when they brought in a hit and run victim?" Munch asked, "Female, late teens, about…"

"It's a busy hospital, sir," he said as he continued down the hall with them following beside him, "Lot of people come in and I'm working the floors so I don't see everybody who does."

"Well we have a pretty good idea you saw this one," Elliot said.

"And why is that?" he asked.

"Because you chased her into the street," Munch told him.

Before the man could turn around, Elliot grabbed the man and pinned his arms behind his back as he took out a pair of handcuffs. "Ryan Cobb," he said as he and Munch walked him over to the elevator, "You're under arrest for rape and attempted murder. You have the right to remain silent, anything you say will be held against you in a court of law, you have the right to an attorney, if you cannot afford one, one will be appointed to you by the court."

"This is crap!" he said.

"Shut up," Munch said as he swiftly kicked Ryan in the ass as they got into the elevator, "Be more careful where you step, you might hurt yourself."

Marie, Olivia and Fin watched the scene unfold from the doorway to her room.

"Are you sure you'll be able to hold him?" Marie asked, "Naturally this is all going to be my word against his…and nobody ever wants to believe a woman."

"They'll believe a female victim sooner than they would a guy," Fin said, "They just might."

"How? There's no proof, even if there was, it was months ago, you could prove we had sex, but you can't prove he raped me," Marie said.

"We might be able to prove he tried to kill you," Olivia told her.

"How?" Marie asked.

Olivia put her hand on Marie's stomach, "The doctors found no drugs or alcohol in your system and any psychiatrist can prove you're of sound mind…the defense is going to have to come up with one hell of an excuse as to why you would risk killing yourself and your baby for no reason."

"You can be sure whatever attorney he gets will pull some idea out of his hat for that one," Marie replied, "And the jury's bound to eat it up. They always do. 'Oh she's always been suicidal', 'Oh, she'll do anything to get attention', 'Oh, she's always staging these accidents, she likes being in the hospital'. Ever since the Twinkie defense there's been all the evidence in the world that juries aren't made up of the brightest people and they don't often see things for what they are."

Marie turned to Olivia and asked, "Am I going to have to come down to the police station for an identity parade? Pick him out of a line?"

"You're sure that's the guy, right?" Fin asked.

"Believe me, after everything he put me through, if I never had to see his face again it would be too soon," Marie responded, "There's no way I would go mistaking somebody else for him."


	4. Chapter 4

"I'm on my way to arraignment," Casey said to Elliot the next morning, "Do you have something?"

"Yeah," he answered, "We did some checking and found out that Ryan Cobb left Kansas one day after Marie did, and he moved to New York, a few blocks away from where she did, two days after she got here. He's been stalking her this whole time."

"Did you talk to the police who originally handled the rape case?" Casey asked as she headed to her car.

"Casey, nobody handled the case before now," Elliot said as he stayed behind her, "They blew her off because Ryan Cobb was a respected man in that town and she didn't count for anything; and nobody was going to say a word against this guy."

"She filed a complaint, didn't she?" Casey asked.

"Yeah, they have that jammed in with about 200 other rape complaints that were never looked into, most of which the statute of limitations has run out for," Elliot answered, "I can see why she left. She knew nobody was going to help her."

"She didn't know he would follow her here," Casey said, "You can't say she knew she'd get help here."

"She thought she left him behind when she moved," Elliot told her, "She was pulling her life together, she just found out she was pregnant and then she finds out her rapist has followed her half way over the country."

Casey stopped and turned around to face him, "Makes you wonder then why we're not arraigning Miss Baron on a murder charge pleaded self defense. We've prosecuted thousands of cases where women who were raped or abused, maimed or killed their alleged attackers, all of them claiming self defense, temporary insanity after enduring years of battering…"

"Marie's only two months pregnant, Ryan only raped her once," Elliot said.

"And we've also prosecuted plenty of women who killed their attackers over less," Casey reminded him.

"So what're you saying, that it should be her in jail instead of this guy?" Elliot wanted to know.

"Of course not," Casey answered, "I'm just wondering why when so many women we see in these circumstances kill their attackers, or go back to them and get killed themselves…this one actually knew to come to the police instead."

* * *

"People vs. Ryan Cobb," the bailiff read, "One count conspiracy to commit murder."

"How does the defendant plead?" the judge asked.

"Not guilty," Ryan's lawyer answered.

"People on bail?" the judge wanted to know.

"People request remand," Casey stated.

"Your Honor!" the defense attorney started.

"The defendant," Casey bluntly cut him off, "Raped the victim in their hometown in Kansas and then followed the victim over a thousand miles when she moved to get away from him; after which he ran her out into the middle of traffic when she threatened to report him to police. He has no family, no ties to the community."

"Mr. Cobb is not a flight risk, he is a hospital orderly, Your Honor," the defense said.

"Yes," Casey replied, "The same hospital that the victim was taken to after the murder attempt."

"You can't prove that I had anything to do with her smashing her head into that car," Ryan said.

"Save it, Mr. Cobb," the judge said, "Bail is set at $200,000 cash. Next case."

* * *

Marie sat up in her hospital bed and saw everything was blurry again. "Munch?" she called out and looked around the room, "Detective Munch?"

"Na, it's me," Fin replied from where he sat next to the bed, "Munch said he'd be back later."

"Oh," she laid back down, "Detective Tutuola?"

"What?"

"Do you have any kids?"

Fin paused before answering, "One, he's grown now."

"What was it like, raising him?" she asked.

"His mother did most of that," he answered, "Seems every time something was going on in his life, I was always at work."

"Well," she replied, "You do what you have to."

"Maybe," Fin said, "Though I wonder, if I'd been around more, would he still have as many problems as he's going through now."

"I had a good relationship with my family," Marie told him, "Look at me now, raped, near death and knocked up, and if Ryan gets out of jail and you know as well as I do it's very likely he will…he's going to come after me again. And this time he probably _will_ kill me."

"He's not getting out of jail," Fin said.

"I like to think not…but the police wouldn't take me seriously back home, and you do here but the judge and the jury, that's going to be another matter. You know, they say 98% of rapists never see one day in jail. I don't condone vigilantism but I sure can understand it in such instances," Marie said as she sat up against the pillows, "I would've liked to have killed him myself expect I couldn't do that. For one thing, this is New York so forget about shooting him. Stabbing him would be another angle but you'd have to be pretty sick to be able to drive a blade past muscle and bone, I think. Breaking his neck would get it over quickly but with his luck he'd probably snap mine first. Forget about the death penalty in itself, the real debate should be over whether to reinstate the electric chair or the guillotine."

"Sounds like you've had a while to think it over," Fin commented.

"Eight weeks pregnant, and how long to get from conception to pregnancy?" Marie asked, "Yes I've had plenty of time to think about it."

The door opened and Munch stepped in, "Alright, Fin, I'm here, you can go now."

"Munch," Marie tried to look across the room and see him, "Is he…is he still in jail?"

"Judge ordered $200,000 bail, he can't make it and nobody around here knows him well enough to post for him. He's not going anywhere except back to the tombs," Munch explained, "Oh by the way, I saw your doctor on the way in and she said you should be able to get out of here by tomorrow."

"Good," Marie replied, "I'm getting bedsores and I didn't know people got those anymore. Munch…when the trial starts, are you going to be there? I mean I know they'll call you as a witness since it was your car I smashed into…but when I'm up on the stand, and when he's on the stand…are you going to be there?"

Almost without missing a beat, Munch promptly answered, "Yes."

"Good," she said, "It'll be nice to have a familiar face in the crowd. Somebody who knows I'm telling the truth, even if nobody else does."

* * *

"So far things are looking good for the victim," Casey said, "No arrests, no restraining orders, nothing that would suggest she's been much of a problem at any point in her life…"

"But unfortunately the same things can and do apply to our rapist," Olivia completed the thought.

"Only difference in back west Ryan Cobb was a well known person, which adds to why nobody wanted to believe Marie's side of it; he was Mr. Popularity, she was the girl next door who nobody noticed."

"Well thank God we're not trying this case in Kansas then," Olivia said.

"Unfortunately, in Marie's original statement she said that Cobb sent her harassing emails; but she also said that she got rid of her computer when she moved and doesn't have a new one. So we can't verify that."

"We had a search warrant for Cobb's computer but the one he used to send those messages on is in a landfill somewhere and we can't get anything off his new one," Olivia added.

"There were no witnesses to the rape, even though she claimed it happened in an open place," Casey said.

"Parking lots and alleys are some of the most common places for a rape to occur," Olivia said, "And very few of them ever have any witnesses."

"Cobb's lawyer is going to have some old excuse ready, it was consensual and she just regretted it the next day, they were both drunk and things got a little out of hand…speaking of which," Casey said, "No arrest reports but what did you get from her neighbors?"

"We spoke to several people who knew her," Olivia explained, "They all had pretty much the same story; she was a nice girl, got good grades in school, never drank, never smoked, never acted out against her parents, never shoplifted, always willing to help anybody, always a positive person, very cheery, loved to bake for the people on the block…she is frigging Pollyanna, Casey, this guy's got nothing on her, the defense has nothing on her, nobody does."

"And unfortunately we can't find the emails where she told him to back off and that she wasn't interested in him," Casey replied, "If we had those, we could really have a shot at showing the jury that this guy has no regards to anything except what he sets his mind to getting. Nobody from back in the tumbleweed capital would speak out against this guy, and nobody in Manhattan has known him long enough to talk either way. So all we have is the word of a young woman who the defense is going to make out to be some vindictive bitch who's just looking to hurt an innocent man."

"Not so innocent, first he rapes her and then he tries to kill both she and her unborn child," Olivia told her.

"We can't prove he raped her and we also can't prove that he drove her out in front of Munch's car. Even Munch says he didn't see anybody except her," Casey said.

"Why would she do that?" Olivia asked, "We're having Huang examine her, he's going to say she's not crazy. The defense can have her analyzed, anybody can see she's not crazy. She doesn't drink, she's not taking any medication for mental or physical problems."

"However the defense could argue that she is just so hell bent on framing his client that she would throw herself in front of a moving car and endanger both she and her baby's lives. That's not uncharted territory, Liv, we've dealt with cases like that," Casey reminded her.

"You know what other cases we've dealt with, Case?" Olivia said in return, "Psychotic, obsessed, nut job bastards who rape women and think they can get away with it and a lot of times they _do_! I don't want to see that happen here."

"You think I do?" Casey replied, "It's a poor case, Olivia. We're just lucky the arraignment judge wasn't a hard boiled one otherwise this guy would already be out in the streets again!"

"So help me out here!" Olivia exclaimed, "What do we need to hurt this guy during the trial?"

"I don't know," she answered.

* * *

"Forget it!" Cobb stood up from his place at the table, "I'm not taking any deal, I'm not pleading to anything and I didn't rape that bitch and I sure as hell didn't try and kill her."

"Not that he'll listen," Casey said to the defense attorney, "But you might remind your client if he wants to win any points with the jury, to refrain from calling Marie Baron a bitch when he's called to the stand."

"Casey, I'm not an unreasonable man," the attorney said, "But you know as well as I do if he pleads to rape-1, his name goes on a list that will follow him around the rest of his days. He'll never get his life back after that."

"He should've thought of that before he tried running Marie down with his car and dragging her into an alley," Casey replied.

"There is no confession, no witnesses to put him at the street the night she ran in front of the detective's car, no smoking gun, what do you have?" the lawyer wanted to know.

"What do you have?" Casey wanted to know, "If this is all some big misunderstanding and your client is innocent, why did Miss Baron file a complaint with the police in one jurisdiction and attempt to do the same in another?"

"Come now, Casey," he replied, "This wouldn't be the first time a woman tries to shake a man down because he has something she wants."

"Like what?" Casey wanted to laugh.

"We both know a lot of these rape cases go away after the two parties agree to a reasonable settlement," he said.

"So Marie is doing all this for a few bucks?" Casey asked, "I wasn't born yesterday, counselor."

"She's a young woman, single, unemployed as of currently, pregnant…that's not a pretty picture, here's her easy financial way out."

"Except that she filed a rape report before she was pregnant," Casey said.

"She had consensual sex with my client, it's not his fault she chose instead to not buy a morning-after pill."

"You're going to have to do better than this in front of the jury if you don't expect to be laughed out of court," she replied.

* * *

"How bad are things looking for us?" Elliot asked.

"It's the ten millionth case of he said she said," Casey told him, "We could prove the baby's his but that won't get him for rape or him trying to kill her."

It was then that Fin noticed something. "Where's Munch? You'd think he'd be here going on about manipulative women conspiring against their exes through the justice system."

"Maybe he got tired of talking about his ex-wives," Elliot thought.

"If the defense really tries to suggest she's looking for a settlement," Olivia said.

"I told him Marie wanted to see this thing through in court, he didn't sound too phased," Casey told her.

"How much do hospital orderlies make?" Olivia asked, "If he was a neurosurgeon or a famous actor, maybe that would make sense, _maybe_ then he'd have an argument but…"

"It doesn't matter," Casey said, "They're going to make this whole thing to be that Marie had sex with Cobb, regretted it, tried to ruin his life and when she found out she was pregnant and living on a bad income for one person, tried to use the affair to her advantage to get a cash settlement from Ryan."

"No they're not," they heard John answer.

Everybody looked to the door and saw Munch entering the room with Lennie Briscoe at his side.

"Nice getting everybody together at once," Lennie commented as he looked around the room.

"What's going on?" Fin asked.

"A short while ago I got in contact with Lennie to see if he could be of any help in digging up information on either our victim or our perp," Munch answered, "And he did."

"How?" Olivia asked, "The rape was committed back in Kansas."

"Maybe, but this sure wasn't," Lennie pulled out of the inside of his trench coat, a newspaper a couple of months old, "Your victim is the winner of a $10 million jackpot over in New Jersey."


	5. Chapter 5

"I should've told you about the money sooner, shouldn't I?" Marie asked when John confronted her that night at a bar.

"It wouldn't make a difference," he replied, "You're too young for me and I've no interest in marrying again."

Marie laughed and collected her soda from the waitress at the bar. "You're funny, Munch."

"First time I've heard that," he said as he ordered a drink, "Anybody else hears me talk they call it weird."

"Weird, funny, crazy, eccentric, tomato, tomahto, it all balances out," she replied as she took a drink of her soda.

"Hey!" Elliot called as he walked up to them.

Marie threw her arms in the air over her head and said, "Don't shoot, it's caffeine free…I know being pregnant I really shouldn't be drinking any of it…but that's my weakness."

"We've been looking all over town for you," Elliot told her, "The doctor said you checked out of the hospital AMA."

"What would be a few more hours?" Marie asked, "I hate hospitals…when I have my baby I'm doing it at home…at least there I'm acquainted with all the germs…in hospitals you have 300 sick people and they can spray all the damn Lysol they want there are still germs floating around."

"I hear that," Munch said, "You know I had to stay there once when I got shot."

"Who shot you?" Marie asked.

"It's a long story…"

"Where did they shoot you?"

"In the ass, alright? Anyway, I was in there for about a week, I kept going in and out of consciousness from holding my breath whenever possible. They love to go on about their sanitary equipment and their sterilized conditions but you have people in there with chickenpox, measles, tuberculosis, 700 strains of the flu…"

"Just like when you go to the dentist," Marie said, "They see people with herpes, cold sores that are filled with viruses that have a tendency to burst open during dental procedures, they have patients come in who have AIDS, they stick their hands in the patients mouths, get their saliva on their hands…if they extract anything there'll be blood with the antibodies…"

"That's why any time I go to my dentist," Munch told her, "I make him put on a new pair of gloves while I'm watching."

"I know but you can't ask them to sterilize their operating tools in the hospital while you're watching," Marie replied, "They don't like people questioning their work."

"No," John shook his head, "As though having a degree holds a person above a standard than human being and prohibits them against making any mistakes."

"That's one area where you have to love lawyers," Marie said, "It's because they fought for malpractice suits with large payoffs that doctors had to start taking real precautions with their patients in the first place."

Elliot stood in between these two people, looking from one to the other, listening to what they had to say and all of it sounding the same. Olivia entered the bar and walked up to them and asked Elliot, "What's going on here?"

"I have no idea," he replied, "I'm flashing back on the Twilight Zone, and it's like the 5th Dimension was specifically reserved for what goes on inside Munch's mind."

"Hi Olivia," Marie said, "What're you doing here?"

"I had a hunch I'd find everybody here," she replied.

"Munch told me what you found out. I should've told you guys about the money before, shouldn't I? I know it'll look bad if they think I have something to hide."

"I'll be honest," Olivia told her, "I have no idea what the defense could possibly do with that. Their angle was that you were claiming rape to get a cash settlement out of Ryan...I don't think we've ever had a case where the victim was a millionaire and the attacker was barely scraping by. If anything I'd think that would work in our favor."

"What did you do with the money anyway?" Munch asked, "Maybe Ryan tried to get you out of the way so he could get to it."

"I hadn't thought of that," Marie said.

"Is it in a bank account?" Olivia asked.

"Oh no, I don't trust banks," Marie said.

"That's smart, neither do I," Munch told her, "They take your money, lock it up, then they don't give it to you when you need it, and do you know why?"

"Oh no!" Elliot exclaimed as he tried to get past them, "I can't put up with this again, I can't listen to this again, I'm getting out of here!"

"Marie, what did you do with that money?" Olivia asked, "You're obviously not using much of it, we've seen the house you're living in."

"I try to keep a low profile," Marie answered, "I've been poor all my life…I got millions of dollars now, of course," she turned to John, "You know they cut it in half for taxes." She turned back to Olivia, "But I live within my means and I have the rest of the money socked away where nobody can get their hands on it."

"Well, if it's not in the bank, where is it?" Olivia asked.

"In an account at a Bible college I know of…they keep the money, it makes twice as much interest as it would in the bank, and I can get it out at any time. And you know they say give God 10% and you'll get more in return…ergo He's giving me a lot more than the banks, or anybody else for that matter."

"So it's possible Ryan didn't even know about the money," Munch said as his drink finally arrived.

"Hmm," Marie swallowed a drink of her soda, "Might be, I just stuck around long enough to collect it and then I moved on…nobody in Jersey had enough time to even get acquainted with me. I think he just wanted to kill me so nobody could blow the whistle on him for rape because he knows if he's forced to register, it'll be permanent and then everybody's going to be watching him until he dies."

"How much money do you have with you?" Olivia asked.

"$50,000 at the house," Marie answered.

Munch spit out his drink and choked a couple of times.

* * *

"The good news is," Olivia said later that night at the station, "Ryan is still in the tombs so he can't possibly get to Marie right now."

"Maybe not but the odds are he's got at least one pal around here," Lennie suggested, "Who would help him out if he thought it was worth the trouble."

"I don't know who…nobody will own up to knowing this guy, let alone being friends with him," Olivia replied.

"And therein lies your problem, because you don't know who to watch, so this guy could be out there anywhere, and your victim's just gone home to an empty house."

"Well," Casey offered, "We know that since he was arrested, he's had no visitors besides his lawyer…and as far as we know he hasn't tried to make contact with anybody."

"Which is nice," Lennie said, "But it still doesn't mean you're out of the woods. He could have made contacts with a friend prior to his arrest…remember, he had all of the night following the accident, and early the next morning to do something before he was arrested."

"You better watch it, Lennie," Cragen warned him, "You're starting to sound like Munch."

"Speaking of which, where is he anyway?" Fin wanted to know.

"He didn't come back with us," Olivia said as she took out her cell phone and dialed Munch's number.

"That's the last thing I need," Cragen said, "That walking pencil disappearing on us."

"Captain," Elliot tried to keep from laughing at that remark.

"I've been going three days without any sleep, alright?"

"We could go talk to the neighbors again," Fin said, "See if we missed anything. Somebody's got to know this guy."

"It could be," Casey replied, "But since nothing has happened to Marie since his arrest, it could just be that he's working this alone."

"He's got his phone off," Olivia told them, "Obviously whatever he's doing he doesn't want any disturbances."

"And just what in the hell would that be?" Cragen asked.

* * *

Munch had escorted Marie back to her home half an hour ago. But ever since he'd left, something had been eating at him that he'd made a mistake, that he needed to go back. He turned his cell phone off so that nobody could reach him at an inopportune time and he headed back for the house. There were no lights on and he could hear no noise from inside. He knocked on the door a couple of times but there was no response. Testing the knob he found it unlocked and he quietly stepped in, pulling out his gun incase it turned out he needed it when he got in.

"Miss Baron?" he called out. No answer so she clearly wasn't immediately nearby.

Munch inched his way through the front hall and into the dining room. He'd only been in the house very briefly to get her things and hadn't bothered much with the downstairs, so he didn't know where everything was. He took two more steps forward and he kicked something that made a loud noise. When nobody called out from anywhere in the house, Munch decided it was safe to see what had happened; he took a small flashlight out of his pocket and turned it on. He held the light on what he had kicked and saw it was one of the dining room chairs, it had been knocked onto the floor and rested on its side. Munch shone the light throughout the room and saw several things had been knocked over and ransacked.

"Marie?" he called out, a bit louder, "Are you in here?"

He inched his way through the room and was about to back into the kitchen when he felt the presence of somebody behind him. Turning around quickly, he saw Marie standing behind him with a large glass bottle raised over her head, as though she meant to brain him with him. When she saw who it was she dropped the bottle and let out a sigh of relief.

"Oh Munch," she said as she threw her arms around his coat, "I'm so glad it's you."

"What happened here?" he asked.

"I don't know," she replied, "After you dropped me off, I came in…the lights were out…I went to go check the fuse box but the room was an obstacle course. I about killed myself trying to get through to the kitchen. I got a flashlight and saw somebody had come in and about torn the whole place apart. I went to find the fuse box, but I heard somebody come in, and I thought he'd come back. I've searched all over this place, I can't find anybody…I think I've been going in circles trying to find him. I'm worried I'm going crazy, do you think I'm crazy, John?"

"Of course not," he replied, "Is anything missing?"

"Not that I know of," she said, "I think whoever did it, just did it to scare me…look how everything's thrown around…these aren't the careful movements of a thief trying to find some loot…whoever did it did it blindly and violently to send a message…they're trying to scare the hell out of me…and it's starting to work."

"Go get your things," Munch told her, "Pack your clothes, get your money, pack up whatever you'll need in the next few days, I'll call the department."

Marie made her way through the dining room into the hall and up the stairs. Munch turned on his phone and hit the number on his speed dial. "Captain, send a squad car and CSU over to the address I have written down on my desk. Somebody broke into Marie's house and ransacked the place."

* * *

Two hours later everybody was gathered back at the station.

"CSU checked for hairs, fibers, prints, something that can clue us in to who broke into the house," Olivia said, "So far they haven't turned up anything."

"Well whoever it is, I have all the proof I need that it wasn't a robbery," Marie opened her travel bag and took out a folded row of large bills, "The money was still in my bedroom."

"Yeah but they said nothing was disturbed upstairs," Elliot said, "Only on the first floor. Which could mean that whoever it was, just didn't have time to finish the job, maybe something happened and he had to get out of there quick."

"Unfortunately there's no way of telling when the break-in occurred," Munch told them, "And I didn't pay any attention on the downstairs when I went over, so it could've happened anytime between the night she was admitted to the hospital, and tonight before I took her back."

"Well I hope that they find something soon so I can get back there and go to bed," Marie said, "I've been up all day."

"Marie," Elliot said to her, "You're not going to be able to go back there tonight, you're going to have to stay somewhere else. Is there somebody you can go to, a friend maybe?"

She shook her head, "No…I really don't know anybody that well. I guess I'll have to get a hotel room for the night…at least I can afford it."

"I'll go with you," Munch told her, "I know the perfect place where you can lay low for the night and nobody will think to look for you."

"Thanks, John," Marie replied, "I really appreciate it."

"Once you're done there," Cragen said, "You might as well call it a night too…doesn't look like there's anything else that can be done until we hear back from CSU and that won't be until the morning at this rate."

"Thank you, Captain," Munch said in his usual smartass tone and grumbled on his way out the door, "1 o' clock in the morning, fine time to end the dayshift."

"That's the curse of a government job," Marie told him.

"Don't get me started on the government," John said.

Olivia laughed tiredly as the door closed behind them, "Those two really seem to be made for each other."

"Which could be trouble for us," Cragen told them, "Now that the word's gotten out the vic is a millionaire, the press is going to be all over this."

"Well," Olivia commented, "At least they're paying attention to the victim for once."

"It could become a big can of worms though if it looks like anybody from this department has it in for the suspect," Cragen responded, "Or if they appear to be close to the victim."

* * *

"This is a nice place, John," Marie said as she looked over the current residence she'd be staying at for the night.

"Lennie thinks Ryan might've put somebody up to breaking into your house," Munch told her.

"He may be right," she answered.

"Well, if there is somebody else out there, they're not going to come here tonight," he assured her, "You'll be safe here."

"Thanks."

John went to pour them a couple of drinks and while he was gone, Marie fished through the pockets in his trench coat, and she pulled out a photograph of a blonde woman. Munch came back and found her with the picture.

"She's pretty," Marie said, "Is she your daughter?"

John almost laughed, "Not hardly, her name is Gwen, she's my ex-wife."

"Oh, I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry too, for her."

"Why?"

"Well she married me after all," he told her, "For another, she's schizophrenic…and she alternates between taking her medication…and not taking it."

"You know, not a lot of guys keep pictures of their exes on them."

"I've been married several times," John said as he took the picture from her, "Gwen's the only one I wonder if I made a mistake leaving."

"Well what does Gwen think about it?" Marie asked, "Are you two still close?"

"We keep in touch," he answered, "Sometimes are better than others."

"You don't fool me, John," she said, "You can act like a hardboiled cop who just doesn't give a damn anymore…but you know that's not true…you're just an old softie."

"Only with women and children," he confessed, "And if you breathe a word of it to anybody, I'll lie like a dog."

"You're a good man, Munch," Marie said, "So I was hoping I could ask a favor of you."

"What's that?"

"When my baby is born…I…I want you to be the godfather…I don't know or trust anybody else well enough to ask them…but you I know I can trust."

"You might want to reconsider," John said, "I never had kids because I didn't want them to have the responsibility of putting up with me, I can't imagine I'd do much better as a godparent."

"You'd do just fine," she told him, "You're the only person I _can_ trust, John."

* * *

7 o' clock in the morning, ordinarily Lennie Briscoe hated days that started this early; but when it meant dropping in on John Munch unexpectedly, he couldn't wait. Cragen had announced they hadn't heard from Munch since he left the night before, so Lennie volunteered to go to John's place and get his bony ass out of bed. When he turned the front doorknob he was surprised to find it wasn't locked.

"Hello?" he poked his head in, "John, since when did you start getting careless?" No answer. Lennie pushed the door open and stepped into the house. It was dark, and quiet, but he expected it was always like that.

"Yoo-hoo," he called up the stairs, "Anybody home?"

Still no response. Lennie got on the first step and was about to go up to the bedroom and give John the rudest wakeup call of his life; but then he heard something coming from the living room.

He didn't pull his gun but he kept his hand close enough to grab it out in a moment's notice as he inched his way through the downstairs of the house. He turned a corner and went into the living room. It was still dark…too dark to make out much of anything. Lennie felt along the wall for a light switch. The panel had a knob on it that had to be pressed to turn on the overhead lights, but Lennie hit the knob several times and they wouldn't come on. So he slinked over to the window and turned the rod on the Venetian blind to let the early morning light into the room.

"Rise and shine you lazy…" Lennie turned around and saw who was in the living room, "Oh my God, John!"


	6. Chapter 6

"Munch, what the hell was going through your mind last night?" Elliot asked.

"Not what you're thinking, most likely," he answered.

"You've been a detective for how many years? Do you know how far out the window the case's credibility is going to be thrown now?"

"I've noticed your victim is being unusually quiet," Lennie said.

"What do you want me to say, Mr. Briscoe?" Marie asked.

"That what happened last night is not what I think it is."

"It's not."

"Sorry I'm late," Olivia said as she came in, she saw the somber looks on everyone's faces and asked, "What'd I miss?"

"Munch didn't escort Marie to a hotel last night after the break-in," Elliot said, "He took her home with him."

The look on Olivia's face was nothing short of comical.

"Until we get a report back from CSU we don't know if there are two assailants walking around out there," Munch said, "For all we know somebody could've been following her from the hospital."

"That still doesn't justify what you did," Elliot said.

"What I did was wrong, yes, I admit it," Munch said, "Wrong towards the case, I know, but nobody is stupid enough to hassle somebody in the house of a cop who keeps a loaded gun around. Everybody knows that, and nobody was going to find out. But now thanks to that thing," he pointed to Lennie.

"You're just still mad at me because I slept with Gwen."

"This could've been kept from the defense when nobody else knew, you didn't have to go announcing it to everybody," Munch told him.

"Guys!" Olivia got between them, "What's done is done, all we can do is take our licks on this one and move on the best we can. Munch, what _were_ you thinking, though? She said she was going to a hotel room for the night."

"One of our main priorities right now is to keep the victim safe," Munch told her, "This includes a right of privacy that's not breached. It's very questionable how safe she would've been in a hotel room, they put hidden cameras all over the places to record couples having sex and then redistributing the videos for a fee. You have people looking in at them through the peephole, people who dress up like the staff to gain entrance. Do you know how many hotels in this country have the police called out because they've found dead bodies under the beds and in the mattresses?"

"That still doesn't do us any favors," Elliot said, "Once the press gets the word that you took a victim home with you and she spent the night…"

"Nothing happened," Marie told them, "I know nobody's going to believe that but it didn't."

"It still damages the case, police officers are not supposed to have any personal attachment to the case and especially not towards the victim and they're going to make this out to be a very personal matter," Lennie said, "A young, single, vulnerable girl who is pregnant, goes to find this specific detective, she almost dies in the presence of said detective, and this same detective has a very heavy interest in the case and the victim. They're going to eat it up with a spoon."

Everybody in the room started arguing with one another and just as Cragen entered and was about to break it up, they heard a verbal explosion from the other side of the room.

"Shut up!" it was Marie, who looked like she was about to kill somebody. Everybody quieted down and turned towards her, she continued, "Shut up! Shut up! All of you just SHUT UP!" She started to shake and a sickened look appeared on her face and she barely got out, "Oh my God" before she tore through the corridor.

Munch started to chase her but Olivia got ahead of him and said as she sprinted out of the room, "I'll go check on her."

"Well it looks like everybody got in what was going to be said," Cragen said, "I guess there's not really much point in me throwing in my own two cents."

"I screwed up, I'll admit it," Munch replied, "But I didn't see there were too many options available if we wanted to keep her safe until we got the report back on the crime scene. People aren't safe in hotels and it's not likely that 1PP is going to send a squad car out to guard her wherever she would stay."

"You didn't do anybody any favors showing how involved you are in this," Cragen said, "But what could've been done is behind us now."

"CSU called," Fin said as he stepped into the room, "They found Ryan's prints all over the place, nobody else's except his and Marie's."

"Marie said she got into an argument with Ryan and she took off to go to the police station," Munch said, "Maybe he went to her house."

"Ballsy of him," Elliot said.

"Stupid too, because if his prints are on the furniture that's thrown all over the place, how is he or his lawyer going to explain that one?"

"Probably that he went in to talk to her, because they had known each other, and naturally he touched all the stuff with his prints on it, but they'll swear he didn't vandalize the place," Elliot thought.

"When Marie gets back from her bout with morning sickness, we'll find out," Cragen said.

"We may have more problems than that," Lennie said.

"Why? What else has happened?"

"The media is going to be all over those two conspiracy nuts spending the night together," Lennie explained, "Even if nothing did happen, they'll twist it into some sort of romantic mess, and if they don't do that, they're going to say that there's some infatuation from one to the other…Marie has no known parents, they'll probably say she was leaning towards him as a father figure…or they might say Munch has been married several times, gone through different types of women, maybe now he's looking for more the Lolita type, or the knocked up and single type."

"Since when do you know anything about psychology?" Munch asked.

"I've been badgered by enough shrinks in court to put it together. Once this story breaks they're going to go for every angle possible to discredit the both of you."

* * *

"Marie, how are you feeling today?"

"Lousy, I started throwing up," she answered, "I had hoped I wouldn't get morning sickness. You know," she looked up at him, "We really have to stop meeting like this, people are going to talk."

Huang sat down beside her at the table.

"I suppose you heard about what happened last night," she said.

"No, I didn't get in until late today," he replied, "What did happen last night?"

"It's a long story…I went home…somebody broke into the house, they trashed everything…Munch came back, and he called the cops. I was told I couldn't go back home while they were checking for…prints or hairs or something…so I was going to get a room for the night. Munch said he knew a place where I'd be safe until further notice…so I got in the car with him…he took me to his house."

"How come?" Huang asked.

"We didn't know if it was Ryan who broke in, or if he has a partner working with him who had been following me. John said until we knew if we had another suspect walking around, I'd be safe staying with him because few people are dumb enough to bust in on an armed cop."

"Why didn't he just take you to a hotel room for the night? Surely you would've been safe there."

"I had my doubts about it…apparently so did he because we both know about the horror stories of some hotels. You think you're alone, nice and private, then its found out that the staff has put hidden spy cameras in the room to record everything you do. And…we've both read about all the times a couple has spent the night in a room, and the next day they found out there was a dead body stuffed under the bed. Usually in those cases, it's a prostitute or a drug dealer…somebody like that…and clearly the killer isn't a professional or he wouldn't leave the body around."

"And you were worried if you went there for the night, the same thing might happen to you?"

"Yeah, I guess so."

"Whose idea was it not to go to the hotel?"

"It was a mutual agreement," Marie said.

"But one of you had to think of it first, was it Munch?"

"He'll get in trouble if I say yes, won't he? He said he knew a good place for me to stay the night where nobody would find me, and I didn't ask where, I just got in the car with him. I was going to leave early in the morning before anybody could find out…but Mr. Briscoe came in to get John up and he found us."

"Found you, how?"

"John let me sleep on the couch, he spent the night going to the windows and the front door at every sound with his gun…he finally fell asleep in the chair next to the sofa. I told them nothing happened, but I don't know that they believe it…and I know they're just thinking that the press is never going to believe it…but I wonder if the detectives don't believe it either."

"How long have you known Munch now?"

"Since I hit his car," Marie answered.

"You never met him before?" Huang asked.

"No, Lisa Deering told me he might be able to help me…because he took complaints very seriously and he wanted to help women who were in trouble."

"She'd seen him before, hadn't she?"

"Her husband was using her as a punching bag…John kept trying and trying and trying to get her to report it but she didn't want to…but she finally did…he told her he didn't want to see her dead and she didn't want to die either. He tried to convince her to do the right thing when she was too afraid to, so I figured he could help somebody willing to file a report."

"And…in the time you've known him, what do you think of Detective Munch?"

"I…I think he's a great detective, he obviously believes a victim when they say they've been raped…not like those pigs back home, they took my report and lost it somewhere and never looked into it. At least John was willing to help. But I know I've caused him a lot of trouble already."

"Why do you say that?"

"Because I know he hasn't had to go through everything he has with my case, with any previous victim he worked with. Of course there is a difference I suppose…none of them ever went crashing through his windshield in the middle of the night. And I guess not too many of them asked for him specifically."

Huang watched her as she answered his questions. She started to slightly rock back and forth in her chair with a nervous look on her face.

"He is going to get in trouble for what happened, isn't he?" she asked, "I knew if anybody found out…he told me about a cop in New York City, Rey Curtis, he was Lennie Briscoe's partner…he once escorted a witness to a hotel room for the night, and he stayed with her because she was worried…and he got his ass into a sling because of it. But that was because she _told_ the court they'd slept together when they hadn't. He didn't get in trouble for staying with her, only because of what she said."

"It wasn't his home, though, it was a neutral place."

She laughed and rolled her eyes, "I don't think a hotel room in the middle of nowhere is too neutral…seems more people go to hotels to have sex than those who go home…now, if Munch had taken me to some house where nobody lived, then it wouldn't be a big deal…it's only because he took me to his home that this is going to damn the case. His home, any home, a hotel, a motel, what's the difference? It's a place out of immediate danger from whoever broke into my home, that should be what they're focusing on."

"What do you think of him?" Huang asked.

"As a cop?"

"In general."

"He's a good cop, he strikes me as being a good person too…that's why he's a good cop, because you can feel comfortable around him…not like the other cops, the big ones who look down on you, and give you that look that you're wasting their time…and they treat what you've gone through as just a date gone bad…I'd like to see them handle nearly being run down, dragged kicking and screaming, their clothes torn off and themselves violated, and knowing they can't do anything about it except file a damn complaint. Of which gets lost with all the other rape complaints which sit and gather dust until the statute of limitations run out. Munch, he's a cynic, he's not condescending, you can talk to him, he'll listen, he understands…and he still wants to help."

"What about the other detectives in SVU?"

"Oh I try to get along with all of them…I like all of them…Olivia, Elliot…Detective Tutuola…I trust them all…they believed me when nobody else did. But you were asking about Munch…oh it'll be horrible if he gets in trouble over this."

"Because you know nothing happened?"

"I know that I could never get the services he's given me, from anybody else…he's…" she stopped to think, "Munch, that's not a Jewish name is it? But he is…anyway, I think he's doing all that he is, out of guilt."

"Why?"

"When I was in the hospital, he talked to the other detectives and was talking about how he should've known better…how he should've done something to avoid hitting me…he blamed himself…of course that was before he knew what had happened…but I still think he feels guilty somehow…naturally he'll never admit to it even if that is the case."

* * *

"Mentally and emotionally speaking, she's a very healthy person," Huang told the detectives, "A bit abnormal perhaps."

"Abnormal, how?" Elliot asked.

"She just turned 18 recently…at this stage a lot of young people still have the emotional behavior of younger kids…but something's clearly happened to her that intellectually she matured faster somewhere down the line," Huang said, "She shows maturity and understanding about things we don't even see in a lot of adults."

"Which means?" Olivia asked.

"She knows the facts and she won't face anything less," Huang said, "Psychologically there's no sign that she would feel anything towards somebody like Munch that isn't a platonic role."

"Somebody like Munch, what does that mean exactly?" Elliot asked, "A cop, an older guy, what?"

"Young women generally experience some emotional attraction to older men who are in authoritative positions…mostly it comes back to them looking for a father figure they didn't have and they confuse seeking paternal approval with seeking intimacy from the man they attach themselves to."

"And what does that mean for this given situation?"

"She doesn't feel anything towards Munch in regards of anything emanating from love or romance and she knows that he doesn't feel anything towards her either, and she wouldn't have it any other way," Huang explained.

"Well one thing we do know is that she hasn't been involved with _any_ man since her rape," Elliot said, "But we don't really know what she did before the attack. Is it possible that what Ryan did to her traumatized her to the point it's killed any ability in her to feel affection towards any man now?"

"Not hardly," he replied, "A lot of rape victims relive what happened to them so much to the point they can't even entertain the notion of starting another relationship without flashing on their attack. This is part of the abnormality in her emotional health I was referencing to. She already knows that if she fears her attacker, or relives the memories of the rape, or lets it interfere with her life, then he holds power over her, so she doesn't give him that satisfaction. Based on what I saw, I'd say she could very well have a healthy relationship with any man she wanted, she just doesn't want any."

"Well I'm sure carrying a passenger in her stomach for 9 months would have something to do with that," Munch said, "That's usually a red flag for a lot of guys."

"No," Huang insisted, "She's figured out already if she enters into a commitment now it'll greatly compromise her opportunities so at the moment she's just focusing on what's best for herself."

"Boy if only my daughters could figure that out," Elliot thought aloud.

"On a side note," Huang said, "I think she'll hold up very well at trial. Usually the defense lawyer makes the victim relive the rape, bringing back all the fear and the pain, making them very emotional and hardly reliable when presented before a jury."

"And you don't think she'll do that?" Elliot asked.

"No I don't," Huang replied, "She recalled every minute of the ordeal for me without missing a beat…her voice never cracked, her eyes never welled up, she knows the facts and that's all she's going to use."

"It doesn't matter," Casey said, "The defense is going to have something prepared for this…I just hope we're ready for it…so far we have a very bad case, no witnesses to the rape, no emails on either's computer to verify that he was harassing her and she told him to back off, no investigation by the police in Kansas…and another damning piece to the case is that she never went to the hospital after the attack."

"About the only thing in our favor," Olivia said, "Is that the defense's theory about Marie looking for a cash settlement has gone out the window."

"They'll have another story, they always do," Casey replied.

"Yeah, I just hope ours is better," Munch said.


	7. Chapter 7

"Tomorrow is the beginning of the end," Marie said, "The trial starts and I'm starting to become a nervous wreck."

"You'll do alright," Elliot said as he helped her towards his desk, "While you wait around here, just sit back and put your legs up."

"It seems to me that's part of how I got into this mess," she replied as she sat down.

"Don't talk like that."

"Where is everybody?"

"Fin and Munch haven't checked back in yet and Olivia's out on a call."

Fin walked in the door looking ready to crash for the night.

"What happened to you?" Elliot asked.

"Don't ask."

The phone at Elliot's desk rang and before he could answer it, Marie grabbed the receiver.

"Special victims unit," she said, there was a pause, she looked over at Elliot, "Yes he is, who's calling, please?" Another pause, "Alright…hold on," she lowered the receiver and said, "Elliot, who's Kathy and why did you leave your cell phone at her house?"

"What?" Elliot checked his pockets, "Oh boy is my memory gone today," he went over to his desk and took the phone, "Hello? Kathy…what's going on? …She's where? Okay…okay, keep her on the line and tell her I'll be there in fifteen minutes. Okay, love you, bye."

"What was that all about?" Fin asked.

"Elizabeth…she called from some service station near the edge of town, Kathy can't get away from the house, I have to go get her."

"I thought she went out on a date," Fin said.

"She did…she got into an argument with her boyfriend after his car broke down and he said she's on her own as soon as he can get out of there," Elliot said.

"Elliot," Marie told him, "Odds are she's scared out of her mind already, don't go over there yelling at her…and don't kill her boyfriend either, just scare the hell out of him."

Elliot left and Marie was stuck talking to Fin for the time being.

"So what do you plan to do when you retire from SVU?" she asked.

"At the rate things are going I doubt I'll live to see retirement," Fin replied.

"What about Munch? What's he plan to do?" Marie wanted to know.

"Eh, a while back he got some idea about opening a bar," Fin said, "Tried talking me into it."

"Did it work?"

"…Yeah, maybe someday it'll be worth looking into," Fin responded.

"Yeah, someday," Marie agreed, "Someday after this whole nightmare is over."

* * *

"Do you see the man who raped you here in this courtroom?" Casey asked when Marie was on the stand.

Marie pointed to Ryan, "Ryan Cobb, that man over there in the bad suit."

There was a slight laughter from the people observing the trial. The judge banged his gavel a couple of times.

"Sorry, Your Honor," Marie said before he had a chance to speak.

"And what is your relationship with the defendant?" Casey asked.

"We don't have a relationship," she answered, "We…grew up in the same town back in Kansas. I didn't know him _that_ well though…he was very weird. I'll rephrase," she said when she saw the defense attorney move to rise and object, "He kept to himself a lot. That's not a crime though, I did it all the time myself…but, he expressed very anti-social behavior, he really couldn't get along with other people. I guess the reason he came onto me is because I was the only girl in town who wasn't already taken. But I don't care for the social scene much either, and I told Ryan on several occasions that I wasn't interested. He didn't seem to listen. And it went from being just plain annoying, to very serious…he was always calling me, always asking when we could be together, why I wouldn't go out with him. And then one night he almost ran me down with his car, and he got out of the car and grabbed me and jerked me into this alley and he raped me. I fought and screamed and yelled and struggled but it did no good, he was on top of me and didn't let up until he was finished with me."

"And then what happened?" Casey asked.

"When it was over, he left, and I got up and went to the police to file a report…" she shrugged, "They never seemed to look into it when I was there. So I decided if they wouldn't look into it, then he wasn't going to be locked up and if he wasn't going to be locked up…I really wouldn't be safe if I stayed there so I left."

"And came to New York?"

"Originally I was just trying to get away from him…finally I reached the coast and realized I'd come about as far away from Kansas, and him, as I could. And I started to put my life back together…I found out I was pregnant and was planning on what to do for when my baby came around. And then…_he_ came back into my life…I don't know how he figured out where I was but he had followed me halfway across the country…I told him I was going to report him to the police here in New York and have him arrested. He said, 'no bitch is going to interfere with my plans' and then he told me he was going to kill me long before I could ever reach the police. So I ran…earlier that day, I had spoken with a woman named Lisa Deering who had come to SVU a while back for help…she suggested this detective who might be able to help my case."

"And is that detective here in this courtroom today?" Casey asked.

"Detective John Munch, he's right over there," Marie pointed, "Ryan chased me down the street and he was catching up with me. I jumped out of the way so he couldn't grab me and I wound up in front of an oncoming car. I jumped up to avoid being hit by it and I landed on the hood and smashed the windshield. It was Detective Munch's car, he was on his way to the station. He took me to the hospital and the next morning I told him what had happened…and he arrested Ryan."

"And was that the end of that?"

"No…after I got out of the hospital, I went home…and found that somebody had broken into my home and thrown all the furniture about and smashed everything. The power was out…Detective Munch had taken me home since I don't have a car…he had come back to make sure everything was alright. He called the police and they searched the house to find any evidence of who could have done it."

"And did they?"

"Not right away…it was late and I had to find a place to stay for the night. Detective Munch told me he knew of a place where I'd be safe for the night, so I went with him."

"To a hotel?"

"No."

"To a motel?"

"No."

"To his home?" Casey asked.

Marie took a second before answering, "Not really his home…his official home is a small apartment that he described as not being suited for more than one person. He had this small house in the town, barely furnished, very impersonal, but a place he could go to get away from things, like the phone ringing and people bothering him."

"But the house is in his name and the two of you did spend the night there?"

"Yes…and I know it sounds terrible…and I don't want to get Detective Munch in trouble because he's the first cop I met who gave a damn about my case…but I'm under oath and I won't lie under oath. Yes, I spent the night with him at his house…I slept on the couch, and he spent the night pacing around checking the windows at every noise."

"Why didn't he take you to a hotel or a safe house for the night?" Casey asked.

"Objection," Patrick Bowman, attorney for the defense, rose to his feet, "Leading the witness."

"I'll rephrase, did Detective Munch ever mentioned why he was taking you to his house instead of a more…appropriate place?" Casey asked.

"Well Detective Munch is a…he's a real…he's…well…he's what you'd call a nut," Marie answered.

Munch sat up in his seat and looked shocked and mildly offended by that comment, and more so by the laughter of the spectators behind him. The judge banged his gavel again and everybody shut up.

"Would you care to explain what you mean?" Casey asked.

"Other people think people like he are weird because of all the theories they have. People like him and myself prefer the term 'realist'…we anticipate the reality of things most people turn a blind eye to. He works with the police so he knows more about it than I do."

"Knows about what?"

"About, dead bodies being found in hotel beds, guests being recorded from cameras hidden in the walls…you can pay $150 a night and you're still not alone, or safe," Marie said, "Those stories are always in the news…and I'm the only person who was present at the attack who will tell the truth so it's vital that I stay alive and well. So, Detective Munch took me to a more…neutral area where there was a better chance of my right to privacy being preserved."

"And the next day, did CSU uncover anything in your home?"

"Just a bunch of Ryan's prints which I guess means he went to my house after he chased me, because when he confronted me, we were outside on the sidewalk, and I never let him in the house. We didn't know that initially though, the police contemplated the possibility of Ryan having an accomplice, somebody else walking around free at the time. They found no proof of that however."

"Do you honestly believe the defendant would've killed you if he'd had the chance?" Casey asked.

"Objection," Patrick rose again.

"Overruled," the judge decided, "The witness will answer."

"Yes, I do," she said.

"Why's that?" Casey asked.

"Because after he raped me, he said if I told anybody, he'd kill me."

"And do you believe that was his intention on the night in question?" Casey asked.

"He chased me to the point I could either let him catch me or I could dive out into late night traffic…I think he knew full well what the likely outcome of that would be," Marie said, "He disappeared right after I hit the car, and went right on to his job as though nothing had ever happened."

"No further questions," Casey stepped down, hoping they had covered all bases.

Patrick Bowman got up and strode over towards the witness stand. "Miss Baron, you've given sworn testimony to this court today that my client," sticking his arm out he gestured to Ran, "Raped you."

"Yes."

"You also testified you went to the police to report it…but you neglected to mention going to the hospital immediately afterwards."

"That's because I didn't go to the hospital."

"Oh, and why is that?"

"Because your client was an orderly in the hospital…it didn't exactly seem the wisest thing to do going to where the man who rapes you and threatens to kill you, works, to tell everybody he works with what he did."

"So, if he were a policeman you wouldn't have bothered to file a report either?" Patrick asked.

"Rapes by the average Joes are hard enough to get any attention to, let alone an arrest or a conviction," Marie answered, "Can you tell me offhand how many rapes committed by policemen are ever taken seriously, investigated and result in any convictions?"

He looked at her with a look that clearly said he wasn't expecting that remark.

"You testified that when my client allegedly raped you, you screamed and struggled."

"Yes."

"Did anybody come running to help?"

"No, people generally don't want to get involved in what appears to be spousal spats. 'Fire' is a more appropriate thing to yell because people come running to put out a fire, but if I did that then I suppose you'd be scrutinizing me for calling for help under false pretensions."

"So, there were no witnesses to this alleged rape?" Patrick Bowman asked.

"There were no eyewitnesses to Kitty Genovese's murder either. Do you mean to imply that she wasn't really murdered?"

"Your Honor," he said.

"Withdrawn," Marie replied.

"You can't withdraw, only an attorney can," he told her.

"Well then you might want to withdraw your whole dialogue thus far because you haven't done so well to make your case look good," Marie said.

There were some nervous chuckles from the spectators who couldn't resist. The judge banged his gavel again and warned everybody to be quiet or be held in contempt.

"She'd make a good attorney," Munch whispered to Olivia, "She's terrific at making the defense look like an ass."

"I just hope she doesn't get the whole thing declared a mistrial," Olivia replied.

"You told police that my client, before this alleged rape occurred, sent you several harassing emails."

"Yes."

"And why didn't the police recover any?"

"When I left home, I didn't take my computer with me and I didn't get a new one. I let my account expire because I didn't want to see anymore messages from him."

"Well this doesn't look very good for your own case, now does it?" Bowman asked condescendingly, "You don't have said emails, you don't have any witnesses to the attack, you don't even have a medical report that can tie my client's DNA to your pregnancy."

"In a few weeks they'll be able to test the baby's DNA against the father's, a court order can draw up Ryan's DNA and confirm he did this to me," Marie said.

"Even if that were true, it only proves that you two had sex, not that he raped you."

"Well maybe you could explain to me why I would be so stupid as to sleep with a person I've made it perfectly clear to I don't like and have no desire to have any sort of relationship with. And you can forget the age old story of I was drunk or we both were drunk and one thing led to another because if you had bothered to check with the people in my hometown you'll find that there was never any alcohol kept in my house, and I never frequented any liquor stores or bars and anybody and his brother could tell you I never attended any raves or high school parties where everybody got blind stinking drunk on cheap beer. I don't drink, never have and never will. And I've also never taken any mind altering drugs, I don't take recreational drugs to relax and I don't take any medicinal drugs for my physical or mental wellbeing. I've never been to any psychiatrist who ever prescribed anything for me and no pharmacist back home would tell you I ever bought anything from them but some aspirin and lotion for dry skin."

"Your Honor," he turned to the judge, "Permission to treat as a hostile witness."

"Permission denied, she's answering your questions."

"With more questions? It's…"

"It's _my_ courtroom, Mr. Bowman…and if you don't have anything else to cross-examine the witness with, step down."

The defense was starting to look licked, but he wouldn't accept defeat just yet. Trying very hard to keep a straight face, he continued, "Miss Baron, would you describe for the court, your relationship with Detective John Munch of the Manhattan SVU department?"

"Oh that's easy," Marie said, "He's one of the cops who handled my case."

"And yet you seem to speak so highly of him in particular."

"Well it's not every cop who will drive to the hospital, the person who crashes through their window."

"Isn't it true, Miss Baron, that your relationship with Detective Munch runs far deeper than that?"

"I don't understand," Marie replied.

"Since your initial meeting with Detective Munch, it's been said by several eyewitnesses that you express very…outgoing behavior towards him in particular, the way several flirty women just seem to string some men along."

"Objection," Casey said.

Bowman ignored her and continued, "Might it be safe, and downright truthful to say that you strung my client around in the same manner?"

"The Supreme Court found that a victim's sexual history has no relevance to their attack or any other elements of the case, I fail to see how a victim's social behavior can do so either," Marie replied, starting to look a little uncomfortable and seem a bit short of breath.

"Isn't it true that you just put on a big, helpless, act for everybody to buy into and that you are really a deceitful, conniving person who enjoys nothing better than ruining the reputation of an innocent man?"

"Innocent man nothing, he raped me and tried to kill me and he told me he was going to kill me."

"And there are no witnesses to corroborate any of these stories, not one single, solitary person who will speak up in your defense even though you claim to have led such a Puritan life."

"Is Mr. Bowman testifying?" Casey asked.

With every word that the defense attorney sputtered, Marie started to look sicker and sicker.

"There never was a rape, there never was an attempt on your life, you invited my client into your home, and after he left you ran out into traffic of your own accord in an attempt to frame Mr. Cobb for your own psychotic actions!"

Marie opened her mouth but instead of responding, she threw up on Bowman. There was an eruption of noise from the spectators of the court. Lennie sat up front with the other detectives, laughing his head off at the sight, and even Elliot had to agree with him that this was one of the more humorous sights he had seen in a courtroom in a long time. Meanwhile Olivia and John jumped out of their seats and rushed over to help Marie down from the stand and off to the restroom while the judge banged his gavel and ordered the courtroom to shut up, and announced they were in recess until tomorrow.

"Well counselor," Lennie said as Casey came over towards them, "So far I'd say everything's going smooth."

"What the hell was all that about?" Elliot asked.

"I don't know," she replied, "It would seem though that he's got something up his sleeve."

"Well do you think he found somebody in her hometown who was willing to speak _against_ her?" Lennie asked, "For that matter do you think it's even true?"

"Probably just a bunch of guys she knew who are trying to have their field day in the spotlight," Elliot said, "She said she never was much of a sociable person, she probably blew off a bunch of guys and they were pissed at her for it and now see their chance to get even."

"Whatever's going on, we have to find out what it is," Casey told him, "When we spoke to the people in her hometown nobody had anything to say against her."

"Well, I guess he just dug deep enough to find the worms," Lennie said.

"I hope so," Elliot replied, "I hope we haven't just been taken on one long, embarrassing ride here."

"You've worked with enough liars you should know by now if she's telling the truth or not, shouldn't you?" Casey asked.

"You're a lawyer, shouldn't you?" Elliot replied.


End file.
